X6: Gene Pool
by CPO Backstreet
Summary: The third part of my post-X3 storyline. An attack on the mansion by someone with strong links to the X-Men leads to the discovery of a new government initiative, a secret in an X-Man's past and a mad scientist with his own plans for the future of mutantkind.
1. Chapter 1

**This story continues from my two previous post-X3 fictions, The Dark Before the Dawn and Clash of Steel, reading of which is recommended to anyone unfamiliar with them. As before, this is only in continuity with the trilogy, ignoring the prequels.**

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

Viewed from above, the city looked like a maze. People went about their business, their lives, in the various streets and buildings. And if any of them had thought to look up, they would have seen a sight slightly more unusual than they were used to. A young man with fair hair, blue skin and a pair of large, white wings sprouting from his back was flying above the city. In his arms he was carrying a dark-haired girl in her late teens. The young man was called Warren Worthington III, although he also answered to the name Archangel. The girl was called Kitty Pryde. Both of them were members of the mutant superhero group known as the X-Men.

Kitty pointed out their destination and Warren plummeted downwards. Kitty gave a whoop of pleasure and Warren smiled at his girlfriend's delight. He picked out a quiet alleyway and came into land, his feet touching down on the pavement. Kitty jumped down out of his arms and grinned. "I never get tired of doing that." She gave him a lingering kiss on the lips. "Or that."

Warren put his arm around her and led her out of the alley. They headed across the road to the bank. The pair of them had been designated the job of paying the latest bills on the mansion, mainly because they were always looking for an excuse to fly somewhere together. As they entered the building though, they heard the frantic voice of a staffmember on the phone. "No, no, it's going on right now. The guards were jumped the moment they left the van. Yes, behind the building, robbery in progress."

"Sounds like something's going on,"Warren said quietly.

Kitty nodded. "Behind the building."

"Guess we should fly over there and check it out." Warren made to head back the way they'd come in but Kitty grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"My way's quicker,"she replied. Using her mutant powers, she phased them both and they walked through the rear wall.

When they got out in the back yard, they quickly took in the situation: An armoured vehicle, two unconscious security guards and a man in civillian dress holding onto a money bag for dear life. Surrounding him were four men wearing black leather tops. No, not four men: The _same_ man. Each of them was identical.

"Look, just let me go!"the man holding the bag begged. He made to move through a gap between two of the men… and one of them _split_, an identical copy of himself separating from the original and filling in the gap.

"Sorry, pal,"he said, snatching the bag from the man's grasp. "Mess with one of Multiple Man and you mess with all of him."

"Leave him alone!"Kitty shouted.

All five versions of Multiple Man turned at her voice. One of them rolled his eyes. "Aww, X-Men. Isn't that just typical?"

The two nearest Kitty made a grab for her. She phased and they collided, becoming tangled up in each other. Archangel flew over the melee, making for the version of Multiple Man who was holding the bag, and snatched it out of his hands. "I'll take that,"he snapped.

"Why did you have to get in the way?"the Multiple Man demanded, lashing out with a fist. He connected with Archangel's side, knocking him off balance and causing him to fly into the security van and knock himself out.

"Warren!"Kitty cried. She ran to help but another of the copies gave her a shove that sent her hurtling to the ground next to him. She grabbed the bag from Warren's hand and phased, making both herself and the bag insubstantial. "Try getting your hands on it now."

One of the clones gestured to the others and they all merged back into him. "Catch you around,"he quipped before running out of the yard.

Kitty nudged Warren who was beginning to stir. "Where's Multiple Man?"he asked.

"Run off,"she answered.

"And the other guy?"

Kitty looked around. She'd actually forgotten about him in the confusion. "Not here either. Must have split once he realised there were some more capable have-a-go heroes around." She checked the two security guards. "These two should be coming round soon. At least we'll have a big bag of money to give back to them."

* * *

Bobby and Rogue were sitting on a bench outside the X-Mansion, their hands intertwined. Smiling at each other, they leaned forward until their lips touched, enjoying the sensation of arousal and intimacy the kiss generated.

Wolverine watched the pair from the other end of the garden. Storm stepped up beside him, following his gaze. "Young love, eh?"she asked.

Wolverine nodded. "Why is it whenever I see them doing that, I get a sudden urge to stick my claws through his chest?"

"I guess that's your way of being protective."

"Seriously, it's been a year now since she lost her powers and they first got to get all touchy feely. Hasn't the novelty worn off?"

"I don't know, Logan. Have you reached the stage where you don't want to do that anymore?"

Logan paused and looked at her, noticing the slight teasing smile on her face. Accepting the challenge, he bent and kissed her. She put her arms round his neck and he held her body tight, losing himself in the softness of the embrace, thoughts of eviscerating teenagers temporarily banished from his mind.

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier stood on the steps outside the mansion, casting his eye over the grounds. Everywhere he looked he could see students relaxing, chatting to each other, showing off their powers…and in some cases, following more adult pursuits.

He walked back inside the mansion, heading into the front room. There, he was greeted by the sight of Colossus and Siryn kissing on the couch. They sprang apart at his appearance, their faces reddening. "Ah, hi, Professor,"Siryn greeted him awkwardly.

"We were just…" Colossus stopped as he realised he didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"You know, it's curious,"Xavier mused,"I seem to have quite forgotten what I came in here for."He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Gambit was standing in the corridor. "Is something the matter, Professor?"

"You know, Remy, there are times when I can't quite remember whether this is a training centre for a superhero team or a mutant dating agency." Xavier smiled but he didn't quite manage to stop his mind wandering to memories of times past, of sensations lost to him in his new robotic body. He quickly pushed them aside. It didn't do to dwell on what he'd lost.

"Be grateful, Professor,"Gambit noted. "You never know when the next crisis will appear."

"It might come sooner than you think,"Kitty replied as she and Warren came running up the steps into the mansion. She turned to Xavier. "Professor, there's something we need to talk to you about."


	2. Chapter 2

**My thanks for my first review and also to anyone who's following this. Hope you continue to like!**

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

Xavier had called Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, Iceman and Rogue to join himself, Kitty and Archangel in the office. There, Kitty was giving a rather animated account of what had happened at the bank. "He could split himself in two and there was another one of him. Like, exactly the same as him. And I don't think he was controlling them or anything, they all seemed to have minds of their own."

Wolverine pondered her description. "Have I heard of this guy somewhere before?"

Silently, Xavier turned a computer screen round. Displayed on it were a headshot along with a detailed biographical file.

Kitty gestured to the screen excitedly. "That's him!"

"That's the one,"Warren confirmed.

"James Madrox,"Xavier explained. "A petty mutant criminal responsible for a number of bank robberies. Regarded as relatively low on the scale of mutant threats. Until he ended up working for Magneto."

There was a sudden chill in the room. "He's a member of the Brotherhood?"Storm asked.

"He was,"Xavier replied. "He was captured shortly before you fought Magneto at Alcatraz. There has been no word of him being associated with the Brotherhood since." He sighed. "Actually, there's been very little word of him since. According to the latest government files we have, he's still in custody, kept safe with that temporary cure you provided them with."

"It sounds to me like those files could do with an update,"Gambit commented.

"The Brotherhood are still out there,"Bobby pointed out. "I mean, John and the others escaped after we fought the Sentinels together. Do you think he's hooked up with them?"

"It's possible,"Xavier conceeded. "But I'd like to have more information."

"A lot of people in the government aren't happy about us teaming up with the Brotherhood,"Storm pointed out. "But we do still have some friends there."

"Maybe we should give them a call,"Wolverine suggested.

Xavier nodded. "Agreed. Until then, I don't suppose there's anything we can do."

* * *

As the group filed out of Xavier's office and headed down the corridor, Rogue hurried up behind Bobby and rapped him playfully on the behind. "So what do you want to do now?"

She'd been expecting a smile to appear on his face but instead he continued to look sullen. "Not now, okay, Rogue?"

She studied his face carefully. "You're really worried, aren't you?"

Bobby shrugged. "I kind of like to forget that the Brotherhood are still out there. Knowing that they might be behind this Madrox guy…"

"Well, it might not be them. I mean, Pyro was never the brightest student, a jailbreak might be a bit beyond him, especially one that no-one seems to have noticed."

"He nearly killed you."

Rogue paused as she recalled how one of Pyro's fireballs would have consumed her if Kitty hadn't managed to phase them both. "Okay. But until we know what's going on, how about we forget about it and just enjoy the downtime?" She kissed him lightly on the lips. He smiled slightly and when she kissed him again, he didn't object.

* * *

Wolverine and Storm had remained behind in the office with Xavier. "Logan, I want you to begin organising extra combat drills as soon as possible,"Xavier noted.

Wolverine had lit a cigar and was taking large puffs on it. "No problem, Prof, I could use the exercise."

"Storm, I'd be obliged if you'd help him. I'm going to need to concentrate on this investigation."

"You think we're going to have to take the kids into battle again?"Storm asked.

Xavier smiled. "I think that that distinction has been lost now that the younger members of the post-graduation students far outnumber the members of the older generations. But they already fought one skirmish today and I find it all too likely they'll be called upon to fight another. It does, after all, seem we have at least one mutant criminal on the loose."

"We'll see to it, Prof,"Wolverine assured him, putting an arm round Storm's shoulder and guiding her from the room. Once they were out in the corridor, he withdrew his arm and gave her a curious look. "You okay with all this?"

She looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"With the bald one calling all the shots again. I mean, not too long ago you were the leader of this outfit. Or I was. Never quite decided which."

"I've taken orders from the Professor before."

"Yeah but not like this. Before he used to just wind you all up and send you off to do a job. Now he's got his legs back. Well, he's got legs anyway. They're not exactly his. Either way, he's more likely to want to come out with us and do the job himself."

Storm sighed. "Logan… I've got a lot more to worry about than a hurt pride. Magneto, Stryker, Apocalypse… They're all dead now and yet they keep coming. When are we ever going to get peace?"

Wolverine shrugged. "We've knocked them all down and we'll knock this one down."

"Who though, Logan? We don't even know who it is we're fighting."

* * *

James Madrox, Multiple Man, was at that moment walking through the entrance of a large and extremely secret building. A hulking figure waited for him in the hall. This was Guido Carosella, known to the rest of their group as Strong Guy. "How did it go?"he asked.

"I nearly did it,"Madrox complained. "But two of the X-Men turned up. Got in the way."

Carosella rolled his eyes. "Isn't that just typical?"

"Where's the boss?"

Carosella gestured up a flight of steps to a door. "Up there."

"Suppose I'd better tell him what happened,"Madrox conceeded.

"He's not gonna be happy when he finds out the X-Men got involved."

Madrox shrugged. "Maybe he'll organise a rematch."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the review and to the new favourite and follows. Interesting to read the speculation about the villain of this latest story: I find I'm running out of major X-Men villains but it's nice to hear people's ideas. Bit of a clue in this chapter...**

* * *

CHAPTER THREE

Jubilee sat in the front room of the mansion, flicking through a magazine. Occasionally, she glanced up at the sofa where Colossus and Siryn had resumed their kissing, both of them completely oblivious to her and occasionally giggling in a way that was so distracting that every other student had long since vacated the room.

Jubilee finally threw the magazine onto the coffee table in front of her with an audible thud. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

She was across the hallway and starting to climb the stairs when Siryn came running out after her. "Jubilee? We are all right, aren't we?"

Jubilee managed a smile. "Of course we are, Therese."

"I know that we haven't been spending as much time together since I got together with Peter but I still want to be friends."

"He's probably wondering why you just ran out on him."

Siryn gave an awkward smile. "Probably."

"Don't worry, you get back to him. I'm sure I'll manage to amuse myself." Jubilee gave a grin to show that she meant it.

Siryn looked at her cautiously. "Okay. Look, how about we do something this weekend? Just the two of us, no boyfriends."

Jubilee nodded. "That'd be good." Encouraged by the response, Siryn headed back into the front room. Jubilee watched her go. In truth, she _was_ happy for her friend and understood. Given all the time they spent together, it was inevitable that the fledging X-Men would start pairing up.

Jubilee headed on up the stairs to her room, went inside and shut the door behind her. Which was when a pair of strong arms grabbed her around the waist and she realised someone had been in the room waiting for her, hiding behind the door. The arms spun her round and then a pair of lips met hers, delivering an impassioned kiss.

Jubilee returned the kiss for a moment before pulling away, a smile on her face as she put her arms around his neck. "I nearly screamed when you grabbed me like that. Might have been hard for you to explain what you were doing in here if people heard."

Gambit smiled back. "I'd just have told them I needed to borrow a hair band."

They kissed again and he lowered her onto her bed as he began to unfasten her blouse.

It was inevitable that they'd all start pairing up. And somehow, the fact that no-one knew about Jubilee's older lover made it all the more exciting.

* * *

The mansion was quiet. Soft snoring sounds came from many of the rooms. The residents' sleep was peaceful, untroubled. None of them suspected that there was anything to fear.

In the darkness around the building, unobserved, within the grounds of the mansion, were three men. Two of them were crouched on the ground, scraping away at it. The third stood over them, keeping a close watch on their activities. He turned his attention to the fourth member of the group, a woman, whose attention was focused on the building. "Be careful that we're not disturbed,"he told her in icy tones. "Many of the X-Men have abilities that could pinpoint our presence if their suspicion is roused."

"Don't worry,"she returned. "I'll make sure they're kept suitably off balance."

The group's leader turned his attention back to the other two men. The larger of the two looked up at him. "It's definitely here."

"Then get it,"he retorted, his tone making his impatience clear. His pale skin stood out in the moonlight, making the darkness of his eyes even more obvious and unnerving.

"Allow me,"the other man replied. He took a long metal spear and thrust it into the earth. The spear lit up with energy.

* * *

Wolverine woke up. At first he didn't know why. It was still night and he and Storm were alone in the room, Storm asleep next to him. But some sixth sense had told him he needed to be awake, caused him to sit bolt upright with a start. He sniffed the air experimentally, trying to pick up some hint of what had disturbed him. He still wasn't what his instincts were picking up on but they told him where he needed to be. He threw off the covers and bounded from the room.

Storm was awoken by the movement. "Logan?"she asked but she received no answer. Pulling on a robe, she hurried after him.

Logan raced down the stairs, Storm close behind him. He ran to the rear of the mansion, threw open the doors and ran out into the grounds. Storm followed cautiously and saw him kneeling in the grass. She saw an object embedded in the ground in front of him and even though she couldn't see it clearly she knew what it was. A tombstone, marked with an X symbol and the name Jean Gray.

"Logan?"she asked again, cautiously, unsure what it was that had provoked this reaction from him.

Behind her, others were beginning to emerge from the school, aroused by the commotion. Lights were coming on and in the new illumination she saw what had upset Logan so much. The grave had been dug up, the coffin containing the body of the woman he had once loved exposed. Storm took a few steps closer, looked at the coffin and realised what Logan had known straightaway, even before his mind had consciously processed the fact. "It's been opened,"she said quietly and looked at him.

Logan didn't speak. Instead, he opened his mouth and let out a bestial roar of fury at the violation that echoed around the grounds.


	4. Chapter 4

**A big thank you again for the reviews and favourites and follows, I am astounded and grateful at how quickly I've picked up a following. I guess the listing of Wolverine/Storm as the main characters is slightly misleading but I needed to put someone there. I see them more as the head of an ensemble cast than everyone else being supporting characters. They're the still point around whom everyone else circles or the glue that holds them together if you prefer.**

**I suspect that anyone with a greater knowledge of X-lore than me will quickly guess a lot of the twists in this story but hopefully I'll manage to surprise some people. I guess if this really was an X-Men film being released at the cinemas, everyone would have known who the villain was and what new characters were in it months in advance...**

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

"I hope you have news for me, Henry,"Xavier said quietly when he received his guest in the office the next day.

Henry McCoy, sometimes the X-Man known as Beast, paused and looked at his old mentor. Knowing him as well as he did, he quickly detected the bitterness in his tone. "I heard what happened here last night,"he remarked calmly.

"Horrible,"Xavier whispered in reply. "It feels as though we've been insulted in the worst way imaginable. Do you know anything about it?"

"About last night? No. But I have been doing some further reading on our friend James Madrox."

"What can you tell me?"

"You are quite correct. Madrox was taken into custody by troops attempting to track down Magneto's Brotherhood. He was imprisoned and given regular doses of the temporary version of the cure to stop him using his powers. Up until six months ago."

"He was released?"Xavier asked.

Beast considered the question. "Of that I can't be certain. What I can be certain of is that all his records after that date are classified. Classified at a level even I don't have access to."

"Six months." Xavier thought back. "That would have been just after our battle with the Sentinels. Just after the Brotherhood escaped from custody. Could there be some connection with that?"

"Possibly. There is one other curious thing. Madrox's files were classified with the reference XFP52. I've no idea what that means but I did some further reading and found a number of other files that were classified with the same reference. All of them referred to mutants, of a highly diverse background. One was working as a bouncer, one was a college student, one was a road sweeper… Here." He passed a notepad to Xavier.

Xavier scanned the names on the list. "James Madrox, Guido Carosella, Rahne Sinclair…" He stopped at the next name on the list and looked at Beast in shock.

"Yes,"Beast agreed. "That was my reaction."

* * *

Rogue stood on the upper landing, looking up a flight of stairs. She wasn't quite sure why she was there. She was just waiting to hear news. Her hopes were raised slightly as she saw someone coming down, only to sink again when she saw Storm was on her own. "How is he?"

Storm shook her head. "Just standing there. I tried to get him to come down but he wasn't having any of it. Do you want to try?"

Rogue was surprised at the request. "Me? Why me?"

"Because you're the person here he's most likely to pay attention to. Even more than me."

Rogue felt embarrassed by the declaration. But she also knew it was right. "I'll have a go." She took a deep breath, stepped round Storm and slowly climbed up the stairs. She opened the door at the top and found herself up on the roof, taking a moment to brace herself as her legs seemed to turn to jelly at the thought of being so high up. She looked across the roof and saw Logan standing by the edge, staring off into space.

These last few months, since he'd been with Storm, Logan had been the happiest and most relaxed that Rogue had ever seen him. Yet she knew the truth of Storm's words. She loved Bobby with her whole heart in the same way that she knew Logan loved Storm. But she'd still say things to Logan that she'd never say to Bobby. Bobby was her soulmate but Logan was her family. And she was his.

"Not too keen on being up here!"she called over to him.

He didn't look round. "No-one told you to come here, Marie."

She couldn't help smiling at that, the name no-one else used. She cautiously walked over to him, one small step at a time, until she was standing next to him. "You can't stay here,"she told him, almost reproachfully. "People need you. Ororo. Me."

He looked across at her. "Killing Jean was the hardest thing I've ever had to do,"he said slowly.

Rogue nodded. "I know."

"I didn't just do it to save the world or whatever high motives Xavier would have done it for. I did it for her. I knew in that last moment, when I looked her in the eyes, that she didn't want to be a monster. That she wanted to die a human. Somehow I took comfort in the fact I'd given her that little bit of dignity." He bared his teeth in fury. "And now someone's taken that dignity away from her."

Rogue took his hand. "Come on, Logan. Let's go back down."

Logan let her lead him towards the stairs. "When I find out who did this,"he remarked,"I think I'm going to hurt them. A lot."

* * *

There were no windows in the room. All the light was focused in the centre where a large glass cabinet slowly filled with gas and chemicals. Around the edges of the room stood five people. Four of them had been at the X-Mansion the previous night. Another man was with them now, shorter than the tallest of them but broad. "I hope you got what you went for,"he noted.

"We did,"the tall man snapped.

"You mean, _I_ did,"the shorter one replied petutantly.

"Be silent,"their pale-faced leader instructed them. Although his voice was quiet, they all became silent instantly. They knew he would tolerate no argument.

"Is it working?"the woman asked.

The pale-faced man made no answer. Instead he continued looking at the glass cabinet. Through the gas, they could see that something was beginning to take shape. Human shape. A new person was being created before their eyes.

"I think,"the pale-faced man replied,"that this could be the most powerful mutant ever to have existed."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the review! A quick warning: I've been on holiday this past week, hence the frequency of the updates. I'm back at work next week so they might not appear as often but I promise I would never abandon a story.**

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE

The group in Xavier's office constituted a council of war: Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Rogue, Iceman, Kitty, Archangel and Gambit. "So when do we hit them?"Wolverine asked.

Xavier raised an eyebrow as he stared at him. "Well, first we need to find out exactly who 'they' are."

"It's got to be linked to that guy Warren and I fought,"Kitty argued. "Madrox."

"Possibly."

"We have some reports on possible associates of Madrox,"Beast revealed.

"A colourful collection of individuals,"Xavier noted. "But there's nothing to suggest any of them would be involved with graverobbing."

Rogue swallowed slightly before answering the next question. The details hadn't been made clear the night it had happened and she hadn't felt like asking Logan. "What exactly did they..?"

"They didn't take the body,"Storm replied. "But they did…tamper with it."

Gambit noticed how Wolverine was starting to look like a coiled spring. "Perhaps this line of questioning is not helpful."

"I agree,"Xavier concurred.

"What about these associates of Madrox?"Warren asked.

"Yes,"Storm agreed, holding out her hand. "I'd like to see this information."

Beast made to hand the pad over but Xavier stopped him. "I think that information is a bit too sensitive to be made public at the moment."

Wolverine looked at him angrily. "So that's how it is now, is it? You're back calling the shots and the rest of us just have to fall in line?"

"I have my reasons for wanting to keep certain information secret, Logan. There are old friends that I owe debts to. You'll just have to trust me."

"Yeah? You ever hear the saying that trust is a two-way street?"

The promising argument developing between the two of them was interrupted by a noise from outside. A brief whining noise followed by an explosion that caused the building to shake slightly. "What was that?" Bobby asked.

Wolverine grinned. "The dinner gong."

* * *

Colossus, Jubilee and Siryn ran out of the mansion, after giving a quick signal to the other students to stay inside. They were confronted by a large figure striding across the lawn. The man looked as though he were somewhere in his early sixties, with grey hair, yet his body rippled with muscles. He was wearing a simple khaki outfit that made him look like a soldier. The weapon he was carrying resembled a compact rifle. He aimed it over the three teenagers' heads and fired. A large chunk of the mansion wall exploded at the impact.

The group from Xavier's office emerged as well and began fanning out across the edge of the lawn. Wolverine strode forward, matching the newcomer's posture, and walked right up to him. "You're on private property, bud. But then, I've a feeling you know about some intruders we had here a few days ago."

He extended his claws and made to strike a blow. The newcomer struck out with his right arm, backhanding Wolverine. Wolverine braced his body for impact with a blow of human strength but instead the force knocked him clean off his feet, causing him to hit the ground some way away from his opponent. He scrambled into a crouching position. "That guy's made of metal!"

"How interesting,"Xavier commented. "I had no idea I was such a trendsetter."

"Only one arm,"the newcomer corrected, the first time he had spoken. "The rest of me is human."

"That's a shame,"Colossus replied. "Because when I want, I can be all metal." He transformed his body into its metal form and rushed to battle the newcomer. Their arms met in a wrestling move, each of them trying to force the other backwards. At first, it seemed like Colossus was winning the battle. But then he began to be forced backwards himself.

"Unfortunately,"said the newcomer,"my powers are not restricted to having a metal arm."

The X-Men gaped. The newcomer was no longer even touching Colossus, yet he continued to be forced backwards, as if by some invisible force. Siryn opened her mouth and emitted a shrill scream. It didn't seem to cause their opponent any damage but it was enough to make him break his concentration, shaking his head to clear the noise and releasing his psychic grip on Colossus.

Gambit and Jubilee stepped forward, Gambit charging up a playing card and hurling it, Jubilee generating her plasma fireworks and hurling them at the same time. The newcomer swatted the projectiles aside without any obvious harm. Storm concentrated for a moment, then hit him with the force of a cyclone. It was enough to blast him off his feet and send him hurtling away from them. He struggled to one knee. "I didn't come here to fight."

"You're doing a good impression of someone who did." Storm made to blast him again but the newcomer fired a laser blast from one of his eyes that caught her on the arm, causing her to gasp in pain.

Wolverine came to her side, rubbing the damaged limb. "You okay?"

Storm was tempted to pull away but appreciated his concern, even if she didn't really need him getting protective on her. "Just a slight burn."

Xavier stepped to the front of the group, gesturing for everyone else to stand down. "Who are you?"he asked.

"I have been told you may call me…Cable."

"Why did you come here?"

"My instructions were to collect blood samples from members of the mutant group known as the X-Men." Cable's gaze went across the group assembled in front of him, picking out his targets. "Logan, AKA Wolverine. Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm. Henry McCoy, AKA Beast. Remy LeBeau, AKA Gambit. Marie D'Ancanto, AKA Rogue. Robert Drake, AKA Iceman. Peter Rasputin, AKA Colossus. Warren Worthington III, AKA Archangel. Katherine Pryde…" He stopped, staring at Kitty for a moment. "No codename?"

Kitty shrugged. "I change my mind about what I like best every five minutes so I've never bothered."

Cable turned his attention back to the professor. "Charles Xavier. It is understood your new body is metallic and has no blood?"

"That is correct,"Xavier confirmed.

"Then no blood sample from you is required." Cable took a handful of syringes from a pocket and threw them at the group's feet.

Storm picked them up. "Why should we do as you ask?"

"Because if you do, I will depart in peace. Also, I have been instructed to provide you with a sample of my blood in exchange."

"No offence,"Wolverine interjected,"but why should we want your blood?"

"I don't know. But I've been told you may find the results very interesting."

Storm began handing out the syringes to those Cable had named. "Do as he says. It's the only way to resolve this."

Siryn nudged Jubilee. "Do you reckon we should feel insulted we weren't included?"

Cable collected the syringes once they were filled. As he took the one from Gambit, he paused. "Mister Sinister sends his regards." Gambit went suddenly pale and looked away. As he collected the last of the samples, Cable filled another syringe with his own blood and handed it to Storm. "Until we meet again."

"Do we follow him?"Wolverine asked quietly as Cable walked away from them.

Xavier shook his head. "I'll use Cerebro to track him. That should give us better results."

Jubilee was watching Gambit, whose face still wore an expression of shock. "Remy? Gambit? Are you all right?"

For a second, Gambit seemed to consider answering. Then he turned away and walked back into the mansion. Everyone watched him go for a moment. Then Kitty spoke. "Who's Mister Sinister?"

* * *

"Even though it's well-documented, a lot of people don't believe it." Beast turned the computer screen with the file on it round so Xavier, Wolverine, Rogue, Bobby, Kitty and Warren could see it. They stared at the photograph attached to the file. It appeared, even on a screen, yellowed with age. It depicted a handsome man wearing a top hat and fitted suit that looked even older than the photograph.

"I take it that's an old photo,"Bobby remarked.

"Yes,"Beast confirmed. "It's the last photo anyone's ever seen of him. Taken in London in 1897. That's Nathaniel Essex. Born 1861. Died, so far as anyone can gather…never."

"That would make him over a hundred years old,"Warren protested.

"One of the oldest mutants around,"Beast agreed.

"One of the oldest _people_ around,"Rogue corrected.

"So what's he got to do with all this?"Wolverine asked.

"He was a geneticist,"Beast replied. "He was obsessed with building a better human. They say he experimented upon himself, perhaps accelerated his own mutation in the quest for perfection. Somewhere along the way he adopted the name Mister Sinister. I think he considers it a joke."

"A geneticist,"Xavier repeated. "Just the sort of person who might collect genetic samples from mutants."

"But what's he going to do with them?"Kitty asked.

"I think we might be able to answer that,"Storm told them as she entered the room with Colossus and Siryn. "We've been studying the blood sample we took from Cable. At first it seemed unremarkable. A high concentration of mutant genes, more than you'd normally get perhaps, but nothing outstanding. But then I thought to check his DNA. And I found a match with two other genetic profiles we had on file."

"Well don't keep us in suspense,"Rogue encouraged.

"As far as we can gather,"Siryn attempted.

"As far as we can gather,"Storm interrupted,"Cable is the child of Scott Summers and Jean Gray."


	6. Chapter 6

**A big thank you again to anyone who left a review and/or added this to their follows. I think I've already got more reviews for this than either of the first two and it's only chapter six! Hope you continue reading and enjoying, even with the reduced release schedule.**

* * *

CHAPTER SIX

Cable knew they would be waiting in the entrance hall when he got back, lounging around as if they didn't have a care in the world: The four that Mister Sinister called the Marauders. Cable wasn't sure he liked them, even though Sinister told him they were their allies. He felt as though they didn't share the same ideals as Sinister and he. That they were simply there because they enjoyed the more unsavoury aspects of their crusade too much.

The largest of the four stood up as Cable approached. "Well, look who's back."

Cable was slightly shorter than the man but could still look him in the eye. "Get out of my way, Scalphunter."

"Well that doesn't sound very respectful."

"Who'd respect you, Scalphunter?"retorted the slightly built member of the group, Harpoon.

Scalphunter turned on him, drawing a weapon that his powers instantly converted to one loaded with armour piercing bullets. "I can think of several reasons you should show me some respect."

"Yeah?" Harpoon drew one of his spears, charging it with energy. "Let me show you how I feel about your respect."

As the two men squared up to each other, they suddenly found themselves becoming dizzy, unable to keep their balance. They staggered around for a few seconds until the woman, Vertigo, halted her attack. "Have you quite finished?"she asked.

Scalphunter gestured to Cable. "He got on my nerves."

"Mister Sinister has requested I bring him the blood samples as soon as possible,"Cable replied. "It might not be a good idea for you to upset him."

Vertigo nodded to the other man present. "Riptide, show him to Mister Sinister." She waited until the pair had left before turning on Scalphunter. "What did you think you were trying to prove?"

"That guy bugs me,"Scalphunter retorted. "All of a sudden, he's Sinister's golden boy. Why should he be the right hand? We were all here before him. And you know as well as I do where he came from. He's not even human."

* * *

Jubilee had let Gambit go after his abrupt departure from the scene of the confrontation with Cable. He had had the air of a man who wanted to be alone, plus her going after him would have been suspicious. But she'd found herself worrying about him, more than she'd expected. Their secret romance had always been fun and light-hearted and she'd never really found herself thinking too hard about it. A habit that she was more than happy to keep to now, as she pushed any thoughts about the true nature of her feelings for him to the back of her mind. She just needed to make sure he was all right.

She knocked on the door to his room. No-one told her to go away, so she took that as an invitation to enter and pushed the door open. "Remy, I was just wondering if…" She stopped short as she realised the room was empty. She was fairly certain he wasn't in any of the mansion's communal areas so where was he?

A sudden fear grabbed her and she ran to the wardrobe, pulling the door open.

It was empty.

* * *

Downstairs were a lot of confused people. Storm's announcement had been met with a large amount of bewilderment and much debate. "That guy was about twice the age Scott and Jean would be,"Wolverine argued. "He can't possibly be their son."

"And Jean couldn't have had a child without anyone noticing,"Rogue put in. "Could she?"

"It does seem extremely unlikely,"Beast agreed.

Xavier was steepling his fingers thoughtfuly. "That does leave one unfortunate possibility."

"You're thinking of what happened the other night, aren't you?"Storm asked.

Xavier nodded. "Someone took a tissue sample from Jean's body. If that someone was Sinister and if, as you say"-he nodded towards Beast-"he's a geneticist, then there's a lot he could do with that. Especially if he somehow got hold of a sample from Scott as well."

"Scott's body was vaporised,"Wolverine argued.

"Was it?"Storm asked. "We never found out for sure what happened to him."

Colossus was struggling to understand this. "Are you saying that Sinister created Cable?"

"Yes,"Xavier agreed. "Using genetic samples from his biological parents. You saw how he seemed to have both their powers: Telekinesis, the laser beam from his eye… I imagine having Jean's powers would give him a greater degree of control over that robot arm of his, in the same way my powers allow me to control this body."

"Is that why he took blood samples from us?"Bobby asked. "So he can create more clones like Cable from them?"

"A new generation of mutants, with Sinister in charge,"Storm observed. "He could pick and choose our powers at random."

"Not entirely,"Beast answered. "However advanced he may be, a human being still requires one mother and one father."

"But why would he take mine?"Rogue asked. "I'm not a mutant anymore."

"Well, you are and you aren't,"Warren answered.

All eyes fell on him. "You want to explain that one, bud?"Wolverine asked.

"The cure doesn't remove mutant genes, it just renders them inactive. You've still got mutant DNA."

At that moment, Jubilee came running in. "Professor! Remy…Gambit, he's gone. I went to his room to check on him and he wasn't there."

"He's probably just gone for a walk,"Siryn suggested.

Jubilee shook her head. "All his things are gone."

"So he's gone,"Wolverine replied dismissively. "His choice."

Xavier gave him a look of admonishment. "Many of us are apt to pursue our own course, Logan. It doesn't mean they're any less welcome here." Logan lowered his gaze, looking slightly ashamed.

"What Cable said to him about Sinister,"Kitty interjected,"it sounded like Gambit knew him."

"There's no record of a connection between them,"Beast replied. "But then our records on Sinister are less than complete."

"So we need to find him,"Jubilee insisted. "To find out what he knows."

"We do have other priorities rather than Gambit,"Xavier observed.

"Gambit looked after Kitty and me after the first battle with Apocalypse,"Colossus pointed out. "When we were left behind."

"So we look for him,"Kitty decided. "Return the favour. Just Warren and me."

"And me,"Jubilee added. Everyone looked at her in mild bemusement. "Well, it's not like you need me here."

"And the rest of you can get on with tracking down Sinister,"Kitty concluded.

Xavier glanced around the rest of the group. "Any objections?" He was met with a series of shrugs. "All right then. Good luck to all of you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Many thanks again for the reviews. I have to confess my ignorance and admit I have no idea who Kendall is, so chances of him showing up are slim. I'm actually quite shocked at how fast I'm getting through this story, must be the result of not having much else to do.**

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

Xavier sat at the controls of Cerebro, the metal cap in position over his head. Beast was at his side. "Are you certain this is the best course of action, Professor?"

"In the circumstances, Henry, I feel it's the only course of action open to us. There are several reasons why we need to locate Cable as soon as possible."

"One, I assume, being the need to locate Sinister?"

"That being the most obvious and practical one. But I've noticed a certain drop in morale after recent events. The raid on Jean's grave and the discovery that Cable is the result of that raid is preying on people's minds. I think everyone needs activity. And soon."

Beast nodded in agreement. "I'll let you get on."

* * *

"You're making quite a habit of coming up here."

Wolverine had been on the roof since the meeting in Xavier's office, watching as the sun set, alone in his thoughts. So he hadn't noticed Storm coming up behind him. He glanced round briefly and then shrugged. "I like the quiet."

"Sometimes you can have too much quiet." Storm came to stand beside him. "You're thinking about Cable? About who he is?"

"I know who he is,"Wolverine snapped. "He's someone that's going to wish he'd never been born next time I see him. That's assuming he actually was born."

"He's more than that."

"Not to me." Wolverine expected Storm to fire off a retort at that but instead she remained silent, inviting him to continue. He tried to let the silence continue but it wasn't long before he felt the need to explain, to justify himself. "So someone took a bit of Scott and a bit of Jean, mixed them up together and he was the result. So what? Doesn't stop him being evil."

"I don't think he's evil, Logan. He's what Sinister's made him but there's more to him than that."

"When did you become a telepath?"

"I'm not. I've just met a lot of evil men and a lot of good men and I think I've learned to tell the difference."

Logan shook his head. "It doesn't matter. He's not their family. _We_ were their family."

"Then why are you up here?"

"Just because someone's your family, it doesn't mean you have to like spending time with them."

Storm put a hand on his arm. "Maybe we like spending time with you."

Logan turned and looked at her, searching her eyes for deception. There was none there. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. He felt her melt into the kiss and held her there, both of them lost in the embrace.

* * *

Despite his comments earlier, Beast had not left the Cerebro room. He sat silently behind Xavier, watching the lights playing across the map on the display in front of them, knowing that each light represented a mutant somewhere. Beast knew there was no reason for him to be sitting there but he could think of no place where his presence would be more constructive. He had no real function at the mansion and his position with the government had become increasingly tokenistic, with him spending most of his time mired in bureaucracy that didn't really make things any better for mutants.

His reverie was interrupted when one of the lights on the map suddenly grew brighter. Xavier's eyes flicked open, as though an alarm had gone off in his head. "Got him,"he whispered.

* * *

With many of the younger X-Men already having left to search for Gambit, Xavier had chosen a select group to meet in his office, comprising himself, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Rogue and Iceman. Xavier was gesturing to a map. "From the trace I took, Cable's currently here. In Pittsfield."

"Seems to be somewhat out of the way,"Storm remarked.

"Quite,"Xavier agreed. "Which means there must be a specific reason for him being there."

"Do we know what?"Bobby asked.

"No. But I detected four other mutants with him. None of whom I recognised."

"So he's got friends,"Wolverine translated. "More of Sinister's boys probably."

"Strength in numbers is quite a useful truism,"Beast agreed.

"What I want to know,"Wolverine continued,"is are we going after him?"

Xavier hesitated, then nodded. "You are, yes. I want you to take a team down there, Logan. Find Cable and find out all you can about what he's doing there."

"Sure. But he's not gonna stay in one place for long. You going to guide us in telepathically?"

"I fear I will be occupied here. So I'm going to give you the next best thing." Xavier picked up something from his desk, a flat object about twelve by six inches on the surface and about two inches high. On the surface was a series of dials and indicators. "A mini-Cerebro. It'll pick up any mutants within about five miles. I've tuned it in to Cable but you'll need to get close to him to pick it up."

Rogue took it off him then looked at Logan. "Do you want to..?"

"You keep it,"he told her curtly. "Hank, Bobby, you're with us." He turned to Storm and paused, seeing disappointment in her eyes. He wasn't sure if she was disappointed not to be going…or disappointed in him. But he had a feeling that if she saw what he was planning to do to Cable, she'd be even more disappointed. "See you when we get back,"he said abruptly, leading Beast, Rogue and Iceman out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you again for the review! I hope people continue to enjoy this.**

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kitty, Warren and Jubilee were walking through the back streets of New York. All of them felt out of place, uncomfortable with the looks they were getting from the people around them. At least half of those they passed seemed to be debating whether to mug them or not.

"This is hopeless,"Jubilee complained. "We'll never find him."

"It's hard to know where to start looking,"Warren agreed.

"But we should know! I should… We all should. How long has he been living with us now? Nine months?"

"Remy likes to keep to himself,"Kitty pointed out.

Jubilee didn't seem to want to let it drop. "Don't we know anywhere he might go? What about his family?"

"I don't know much about them. Except for his wife and she's dead."

Jubilee stopped suddenly. "His wife?"

Warren looked awkward and Kitty realised he was remembering how he had met Bella Donna, during his brief period in the service of Apocalypse. "She was one of Apocalypse's horsemen,"he explained. "Gambit had to kill her during the fight on Brooklyn Bridge. She would have killed Peter otherwise."

"I never knew he was married,"Jubilee said quietly.

Kitty was surprised at how personally Jubilee was taking it all. As far as she was aware, the only person Gambit had really confided in about his past was Storm. Even Kitty herself had only heard snatches, most of them during that time she, Gambit and Colossus had been alone when…

She slapped her forehead in disbelief. "Of course, I'm an idiot!"

Warren and Jubilee looked at her. "Why?"Warren ventured.

"I know where Gambit might be."

* * *

Wolverine sat silently in one of the front seats aboard the X-Jet. Beast was working the controls next to him, meaning he had nothing to do except brood in silence. Rogue kept shooting him worried looks in between keeping an eye on the mini-Cerebro she was holding. He turned to face her. "Anything?"

"Not yet,"Rogue replied.

Wolverine gave a low growl. "It's not her fault,"Bobby protested. Wolverine looked at him, his eyes ablaze with fire and Rogue knew that at that moment it was taking all his self-control not to attack Bobby.

Then she saw something light up in front of her. "Got him!"she announced. "About two miles away, moving north-west."

Wolverine turned towards Beast. "Is there anywhere in that direction where we can land safely?"

"Certainly,"Beast confirmed. "A private airport. Disused, mostly."

"Well, ain't that a coincidence,"Wolverine noted.

"That's where they're heading,"Bobby realised, rather redundantly. "They're planning to head on somewhere."

Wolverine nodded. "Unfortunately for them, they're on foot. We can fly."

* * *

Storm told herself that there was a good reason why she was going to Xavier's office, other than just wanting something to do. Lessons at the mansion seemed to be on hold by an unofficial agreement. She wasn't with Logan and the others, where she could do some good. And Xavier… She knew he was doing something. And she wanted to know what.

He glanced up briefly as she entered. "Ah, Ororo. Good. I wanted to talk to you."

Storm sat down opposite him. "What is it, Professor?"she asked, her tone slightly icy.

"I've been attempting to find out exactly what our friends were doing in Pittsfield."

"Would it not have been better to do that before the others left?"

Xavier looked up at her and sighed. "Logan's a man of action, Ororo. He needed to vent the frustrations that I sense in him. But more than that, he needs to challenge Cable. He won't know peace otherwise."

"So you sent him on a fools errand."

"No. Sinister's people need to be stopped. But there's more to it than that. I've discovered there was a raid on a genetics factory not far from their location."

"And you think Sinister was behind it?"

"Well, it fits, doesn't it? So while Logan is dealing with the 'who', maybe the two of us can deal with the 'why'." He got to his feet. "Do you think Colossus and Siryn are ready for field work?"

"I think so."

"Good. Then they can come with us."

* * *

"Why do I have to carry all this stuff?"Harpoon moaned, trying to move the bag on his back into a more comfortable position.

"Quit whining,"Scalphunter snapped at him. "We're not far to the chopper."

"It might still take us a long time to get there,"Vertigo replied.

Scalphunter looked round at the comment and saw what she had seen. Wolverine, Beast, Rogue and Iceman were walking towards them, all with determined expressions on their faces.

"Found yourselves some playmates, Cable?"Wolverine asked. "Wanna introduce us?"

Cable gestured to the rest of the party. "Scalphunter, Harpoon, Riptide, Vertigo."

"He didn't mean it, you fool!"Scalphunter snarled. He raised his gun and converted into a flamethrower, sending a burst of flame shooting in the enemy's direction.

The X-Men all dived aside to avoid the burst. Wolverine gave a snarl of fury and threw himself at Cable. He swung one of his fists, claws extended, and they imbedded themselves in Cable's metal arm. Cable pulled the arm free and pushed Wolverine away from him. "This violence is pointless,"Cable snapped.

"Yeah?"Wolverine retorted. "Kinda see it as a point in itself."

Rogue squared up to Scalphunter, delivering a kick that sent his weapon flying from his hands. He took up a defensive posture and hit her, knocking her down. She swung her leg in an arc, knocking him off his feet.

Vertigo prepared to use her powers to affect Rogue's balance but suddenly her hands were encased in a block of ice as Bobby froze them. She gave a gasp of pain at the sudden cold. "Sorry, lady,"he remarked, "but I really couldn't let you do that."

"Anyone ever tell you not to pick on women?"Riptide sneered. He spun his body round like a whirlwind and hurled a series of spikes from his arms in Iceman's direction. Iceman quickly created a wall of ice between them and the spikes struck it, their momentum halted as they stuck to the wall.

Harpoon had charged up one of his spears. "Take this, furball!"he shouted at Beast, hurling it at him.

Beast leapt aside to avoid the throw. "Your insult is accurate but somewhat lacking in eloquence,"he remarked. He bounded towards Harpoon, avoiding more spears as he did so, and with one final leap landed his feet in his opponent's chest, knocking him down.

Wolverine and Cable continued to trade savage blows. Wolverine made a lunge for Cable's face with his claws. Cable knocked the arm aside and delivered a punch to Wolverine's side. Wolverine grabbed Cable by the arm and threw him over his shoulder, leaving him winded. "It's a disgrace you even exist,"he snarled.

"I do not understand your hostility,"Cable replied. "Sinister's plan will bring benefit to all. It will see a new, stronger world, a better human race."

"Yeah, I've heard that song before. And the outcome? Not pretty. But then neither am I." And with that, he leapt at Cable again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks again for the review!**

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

Suddenly, another fist came out of nowhere, slamming into Wolverine's face and knocking him onto his back. He looked up at the new assailant. The figure standing over him was tall, taller than anyone else present. And some of those present were tall. His face was pale, his red eyes staring with barely suppressed anger. He was dressed in black, an old-fashioned looking suit complete with a cape that, coupled with his skin, made him look something like a vampire.

Wolverine propped himself up on one elbow. "Let me guess. You're Sinister?"

"_Mister_ Sinister,"the other corrected. All eyes were on him, the individual battles forgotten. He cast his eye over his followers. "Marauders. I ask you to accomplish the simplest of things, yet you fail me. You would do well to remember that I may soon have other lieutenants at my service."

Wolverine had got to his feet. "Yeah. Anyone ever told you you look ridiculous?"

Sinister's hand snaked out and grabbed him by the throat. Wolverine struggled to free himself, gasping for breath, as Sinister actually managed to lift him off his feet. Sinister's strength was incredible and he didn't even seem to be making any effort. "If you persist in trying to annoy me, I may well reconsider the decision I made about you." He hurled Wolverine over his shoulder, causing him to hit the ground hard, knocking him out.

Beast leapt into action, hurling himself at Sinister, but the villain was ready for the attack. He twisted, deflecting Beast away from him, and slammed him into the ground as well. Beast lay still.

"Does anyone else wish to be foolish?"Sinister asked.

Bobby glanced at Rogue and shook his head slightly.

"Good. Bring them."

Scalphunter grabbed Rogue around the waist, holding her tight, while Riptide took hold of Bobby's shoulder. "What do you want with us?"Bobby demanded.

"Your X-Men could cause me a lot of inconvenience. But with you in my hands, they'll be far less keen to launch an attack. Come."

* * *

Colossus and Siryn were standing waiting by the X-Jet, having changed into their uniforms. "Are you sure you're up to this?"Colossus asked.

Siryn shot him a sideways glance. "You're not going to tell me not to come, are you? Because Dad tried that when he was here."

"No. It's just…I worry about you."

Siryn managed a slight smile. "Well, I worry about you too. I guess we'll just have to make sure nothing happens to either of us."

Xavier and Storm approached. "Are we all ready?"Xavier asked. He was answered by a series of nods. "Splendid. Let's go."

* * *

Wolverine's head was splitting. He had no idea how long he'd been out, although the embarassing memories of exactly how he'd ended up unconscious were coming back. He slowly opened his eye and looked around. He could see Beast lying on the ground, stirring slightly. "You okay, fuzz?"he asked.

"I believe the greatest damage is to one's pride,"Beast answered. He took a look around himself. "What happened to Rogue and Bobby?"

Wolverine forced himself to sit up and sniffed the air. "I can pick up their scent. Them and Sinister's flunkies, the Marauders or whatever he called them. They were together." He struggled to his feet. "Went this way." He led the way, Beast behind him, across the landing strip, following the trail. He had gone a few hundred metres when he stopped abruptly.

"What is it?"Beast asked.

"Trail stops. My guess is a chopper or something. Sinister must have had it waiting for them." He let out a frustrated growl. "They're gone. He's taken them."

* * *

Storm brought the X-Jet in for a gentle landing. "This close enough, Professor?"

Xavier patted her on the shoulder. "Well done, Storm. Come on, everyone, let's take a closer look." He led the way down the ramp.

The quartet's gaze was immediately drawn to the building in front of them. It looked as though every door and window had been smashed. Rubble was strewn around the front of the building and faint wisps of smoke seemed to be coming out of the holes where the windows used to be.

"I take it that's the place?"Colossus asked.

Xavier nodded slowly. "Let's take a look."

They took a step over to the building and then stopped. Four other people emerged from inside. All of them wore blue leather outfits similar to the black ones the X-Men wore. Those of the X-Men who had heard the story of Kitty and Warren's encounter instantly recognised one of them as Multiple Man. Leading the group was a fair-haired, good-looking young man who seemed to be somewhere in his early thirties. The other two were a large hulking man and a dark-haired young woman in her late teens.

"Who are you?"Storm demanded.

"That's none of your concern,"the young man replied.

"Well, I'm concerned. And if you don't start answering questions, you'll see how concerned."

The young man hesitated for a moment then seemed to decide the point wasn't worth arguing. "You can call me Havok. That's Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane. And you, I take it, are the X-Men."

"I'm Charles Xavier,"the professor confirmed. "This is Storm, Colossus and Siryn."

Storm and Colossus gave curt nods at the introductions. Siryn made an awkward attempt to copy the move. "Pleased to meet you,"she managed at last.

Havok didn't seem particularly charmed. "Get out of our way,"he instructed.

"Not until you tell us what you're doing here,"Storm replied.

"Fighting you is not part of our assignment. But we'll do it if we have to."

The woman he'd identified as Wolfsbane shot him an awkward look. "Havok, we don't…"

"They're not giving us much choice. Are you going to move?" None of the X-Men showed any sign of shifting. "Very well." Havok seemed to tense for a moment, his hands raised in fists, then he brought them down sharply. A beam of laser energy burst from his chest in the X-Men's direction, causing them all to dive aside.

Multiple Man split one, two, three, four, five copies of himself off from his body. All of them charged at Storm, who began lashing out with feet and elbows to try and even the odds.

Colossus and Strong Guy locked eyes and then charged at each other, Colossus converting into his metal form as he did so. They both raised their arms and swung them at each other, clashing. The impact jarred both their bodies but they recovered quickly. Colossus punched Strong Guy in the chest, sending him hurtling back into a wall. Strong Guy's face settled into a hurt expression then he charged again, head down so it connected with Colossus' stomach, driving him back off his feet. They crashed to the floor in a flurry of punches.

Siryn looked at Wolfsbane. The other woman gave an impish smile and then her body changed, grey fur sprouting from the exposed parts of her body, her hands morphing into claws, her face elongating into a snout, until she resembled something half-human, half-wolf. She leapt at Siryn, bearing her to the ground, snarls coming from her mouth. Her front paws were clasped on Siryn's shoulders, holding her down. Siryn took a deep breath and then let out a high pitched scream. To a human, it would have been uncomfortable. To someone with the enhanced hearing of a wolf, it was agonising. Wolfsbane leapt off her, hands clasped to her ears, howling in pain.

Storm was surrounded by the various doubles of Multiple Man. She looked at the one in front of her. "You'd better hope you're only a copy,"she told him. She gathered her energies and then hurled bolts of lightning at him. The force sent him hurling back, smoke rising from his chest, then he disappeared. But the other copies continued to surround her, looking unperturbed by the fate of their fellow.

"Nice trick,"one of them said. "But this isn't a 'Hurt one, hurt them all' deal."

"Even if you found the original, you'd have to kill him to affect the rest,"another one added.

"And you don't know who that is,"finished a third.

Storm smiled. "Guess I'll have to bet both ways then." She gestured with her arms and a wind sprung up around her, blowing them all of their feet.

Then Havok fired a blast that hit the ground in front of her, causing her to stop. He fired another at where Colossus and Strong Guy were wrestling, stopping them in their tracks. His third blast struck near where Siryn was still lying, discouraging her from moving.

Xavier placed a hand to the side of his head and concentrated, forcing his mind into Havok's. For a moment, his mind seemed to hold the other in place. Then, as he pushed deeper, Havok suddenly seemed to break the grip and fired another blast that struck near Xavier. "Enough,"he snapped. He gestured to his three comrades. "Let's get out of here."

Multiple Man absorbed his remaining duplicates and he, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane followed Havok down an alley.

The X-Men were too stunned to follow. They gathered round Xavier. "What was that, Professor?"Storm asked. "I've seen you freeze whole crowds in their tracks. How come you couldn't stop him?"

"What I found in his mind, I wasn't expecting,"Xavier replied. "And yet…I'd always hoped…" He realised the other three were looking at him expectantly and shook his head, dispelling the thought. "Let's do what we came here to do,"he decided as he led the way into the wrecked lab. "Find out what happened here."


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks again for the review. Thanks also to anyone who's been inspired to check out the two previous fics to this one, the reviews and views have been shooting up. Hope this continues to entertain.**

* * *

CHAPTER TEN

Wolverine jabbed again and again at the call button before shooting an angry look at Beast, who was sat at the X-Jet's controls, staring straight ahead under the pretence of concentrating on flying. "Where are they when we need them?"

"We'll be back at the mansion shortly,"Beast pointed out. "There's nothing they can do before then."

"I just…I need them to know." If Wolverine were honest with himself, it was Storm that he really needed to talk to, to try and explain how much he'd messed up. He noticed a red light come on on his panel. "Incoming call?"

"They obviously heard you,"Beast observed.

Wolverine shook his head. "This isn't coming from the mansion." He held the earphone to the side of his head. "Hello?"

"Logan?"came Storm's voice in response.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's going on?"

"We're in the other X-Jet. We had a run-in with some mutants but we're all all right. What about you?"

"Met Sinister. Pretty big bruiser. We lost Bobby and Rogue."

"Lost as in..?"Storm prompted, concerned.

"As in they were taken."

* * *

Sinister and Cable stood in front of a two way mirror, watching Bobby and Rogue in their cell. "Keep an eye on them,"Sinister instructed. "Let them have time to begin to worry. Then bring them to me. It is time for them to understand what is happening here."

"And then they won't fight us?"Cable asked.

Sinister gave a hollow laugh. "I have heard of the X-Men. They have difficulty accepting the truth of things. I imagine they will continue to oppose me whatever happens. But it doesn't matter. Soon, the world they would try and maintain will be gone and they will be forced to accept the new world."

"You said they'd make useful hostages against the X-Men. That's just a bluff, you wouldn't hurt them? They're among the chosen."

"Of course, Cable, of course,"Sinister replied airily. "Just make sure you do as I ask."

* * *

Kitty was leading Warren and Jubilee through the back streets. Several times now she had taken a wrong turn and doubled back on herself and Jubilee was beginning to get irritated. "Do you actually know where you're going?"she demanded.

"I only went there once before,"Kitty admitted. "And Gambit was there to lead us that time." She stopped, looking at an alleyway. "Wait a minute." She hurried down the alley, the others close behind her, and stopped in front of a door. "This is it."

"Are you sure?"Warren asked.

"One way to find out." Kitty rapped on the door.

There was a long enough pause that Kitty was beginning to feel she'd made a mistake and no-one was going to answer. But then the door was pulled back slightly and a woman peered through the gap. "Yes?"

Kitty breathed a sigh of relief as she realised she recognised the face. "Rita, it's me. Kitty, er, Katherine. Katherine Pryde."

"Yes." Rita didn't seem too impressed by the declaration.

"Can we come in?"

Rita seemed to consider the question for a long time, as if wondering if she could refuse, before opening the door wider and ushering them inside.

"We're looking for Remy,"Kitty explained. "Is he here?"

Rita looked at her cautiously. "Why do you want to know?"

"We're his friends,"Warren answered.

Rita shrugged. "Seems to me that's up to him."

"He disappeared,"Kitty explained. "When we were in trouble."

"That doesn't sound like the Remy LeBeau I know. But then, he doesn't act much like the Remy LeBeau I know." Rita gestured through the door. "See for yourself."

Kitty led Warren and Jubilee through into the soup kitchen. She'd been there the previous year, when Rita had taken her, Gambit and Colossus in after their first battle with Apocalypse. She remembered how Gambit had seemed completely at home there, laughing and joking with the other men who frequented the place.

When she saw him this time, he didn't look at home. In fact, he looked like the sort of person who wouldn't be at home anywhere. He simply shuffled between the tables, dishing out soup to people without a word and with the minimum of interaction.

Kitty was about to call out to him but Jubilee got in first. "Remy, it's us!"she called.

Gambit turned and looked at them without interest. Then he shuffled off in the direction of the kitchen.

Kitty sighed. "I guess this isn't going to be easy."

* * *

The two X-Jets had arrived back in the hangar at more or less the same time. The respective crews were marching down the tunnel that connected the hangar to the mansion. Wolverine was in the lead, with Professor X, Storm, Beast, Colossus and Siryn trailing behind him. "We need to get out there again as soon as we can,"he was saying. "Rogue and Bobby need us."

"We don't know where they are,"Colossus pointed out.

Wolverine gestured offhandedly in Professor X's direction. "Egghead there can use Cerebro to find them."

"I can do that,"Professor X agreed. "But there's something you need to know first."

"Later,"Wolverine snapped.

"Logan, listen,"Storm advised him.

Wolverine stopped at the soft but firm entreaty and turned, facing them. "Okay. Listening."

"We found out what Sinister's Marauders took from the lab,"Xavier explained. "Several canisters of programmable viral strains."

Wolverine looked confused. "Viral?"

"Like germs and stuff,"Siryn offered helpfully, getting a scowl in response.

"Programmable?"Beast repeated.

Wolverine glanced at him. "That means something to you?"

"There has been a lot of work done in specifically targetted viruses. Ones that only affect certain sections of the population. They can be programmed to infect anyone with certain genetic characteristics or just certain individuals. And the reverse is also true. They can be programmed to infect everyone _except_ certain individuals or genetic groups."

Wolverine struggled to take this in. "A disease that's fussy about who it makes ill?"

"Given what we know about Sinister's ideologies and fondness of genetics,"Storm mused,"it sounds exactly the sort of thing he'd use. Wipe out anyone he disapproves of just like that."

"We could be looking at a global pandemic,"Xavier said quietly,"the likes of which the world has never seen."

* * *

At that moment, another group had arrived back at their base. Havok, Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane walked down a corridor towards an office. "He's not going to be happy about this,"Multiple Man remarked.

"We did everything he told us to do,"Havok argued.

"And more beside."

"He can't blame us for that, surely."

"You never know, Alex,"Wolfsbane commented,"he can be pretty unforgiving."

Havok shook his head. "We'll just tell him exactly what happened." He rapped on the door of the office and they filed in.

The man behind the desk surveyed them all: Henry Peter Guyrich. "Well?"

"We got what we needed from the lab,"Strong Guy noted.

"Good. So why the long faces?"

"We had a run-in with the X-Men,"Havok explained.

Guyrich scowled. "Them again. Why do they always interfere? What happened?"

"There was a fight, we left, they left."

"Not good enough. I've put too much effort into this to let them get in the way. Next time they impede you, make sure they don't do it again."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank for the review! This chapter focuses on a few characters I've neglected a bit and still ends up the longest on record. Hope people like!**

* * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Cable stood in front of the screen for a few moments, watching Bobby and Rogue. He wondered if he had ever been as young as they were. He supposed he must have been, yet all he could remember was being with Sinister and the Marauders. Sinister had told him that the X-Men failed to understand the way the world worked, that they needed to be taught to act differently. But as he looked at the pair, the way they sat close to each other, the simple comfort they took from hand holding, he saw a kindness and affection that he'd never seen in the Marauders. Weren't those the qualities the world _should_ have?

Cable pushed the thoughts away. Such speculation was dangerous. He opened the door to the cell. "Mister Sinister wishes to see you."

Bobby and Rogue got to their feet and looked at him with disdain. "Your parents would be ashamed of you,"Rogue told him.

Cable was shocked at the declaration. "You knew my parents? Who were they?"

It was Rogue's turn to be surprised. "You don't know?"

"They were called Scott Summers and Jean Gray,"Bobby explained. "They were X-Men, like us."

"X-Men." Cable considered this, wondering why his parents had followed such a flawed ideology. "You protect the weak."

"We protect those that need it,"Bobby agreed.

"But if the weak survive, the world becomes weak. And yet there are so many of them and so few of us. And they hate us, seek to destroy us."

"Some do,"Rogue admitted. "There are people who hate mutants, who want to kill them. There are some that are afraid of them, that want to pretend they don't exist or want them to stay away. But that doesn't mean we should destroy all other humans." She took Bobby's hand. "Our families couldn't handle the fact we were mutants. But we don't want them punished because of it."

"Then you _are_ a mutant?"Cable asked. "The way you spoke before…"

Rogue sighed. "I don't know what I am. All I know is I'm an X-Man and I believe in the same things they do."

"Cable." Cable turned at the voice to find Sinister standing behind him. "Why are you taking so long? I did not instruct you to speak with the prisoners."

Cable bowed his head. "My apologies, Mister Sinister."

"No matter. I am here now. Leave us." He beckoned to the other two. "Follow me."

Bobby and Rogue hurried after Sinister down the corridor, while Cable headed in another direction. "Why doesn't he know who he is?"Rogue asked.

"You would have me tell him he was grown in a laboratory?"Sinister asked. "He's happy as he is. He has learned the truth."

"Your version of it, maybe,"Bobby snorted. "But how did you make him? Scott's body…"

Sinister smiled. "Is right here." He led them into a laboratory and pulled out a pallet. On it lay Scott Summers.

Bobby stared in shock. "We thought…we thought there was nothing left of him. Is he..?"

"Oh, he's quite dead. But no matter how much Phoenix had affected her, Jean couldn't bring herself to destroy every last trace of the man she loved. She buried him. And that gave me the opportunity to retrieve him and preserve his body. A rich source of genetic material. I always wondered about him and Jean, about the child they would have. How powerful a mutant that child would be. When death prevented them from having a child, I decided to fulfill that potential myself. Cable is that child. A second generation mutant. One of the most powerful ever to exist."

Rogue shook her head. "That's sick."

"No. That's progress. It's also not what I wanted to discuss. There is much I need you to understand if you are to convince the X-Men to follow my ways."

* * *

Kitty stood as close to Gambit as she could get without violating his personal space as he rummaged in a sideboard in Rita's sitting room. She suspected he wasn't actually looking for anything, it was just an excuse not to look at her. Warren and Jubilee were standing by the door but both of them seemed happy to leave the talking up to her. "Look, Remy, I need you to work with me here,"she insisted. Gambit gave no indication he was listening. "We need you onside. If you know something about Sinister, then tell us. And if you don't know anything, that's fine too. Just come along and throw some exploding playing cards at him. But we need you with us."

Gambit seemed to abandon the pretence and look at her. "You don't." He swept out of the room, passing Warren and Jubilee as he did so.

"Let us be the judge of that,"Kitty replied, hurrying after him, the other two falling into step behind her. "Remy, please, help us…"

"I love you!"Jubilee called.

Gambit stopped and turned round to look at her. Kitty and Warren did the same. Jubilee looked self-conscious at suddenly being the centre of attention but she took a few steps forward and stood in front of Gambit. She took a deep breath. "I love you,"she repeated quietly.

Gambit smiled and took her hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed it. "Come on,"he said, leading her back into the sitting room.

Warren looked at Kitty in shock. "Did you know about that?"

"No,"she admitted. She nodded in the direction the pair had gone. "We'd better check on them."

* * *

Gambit and Jubilee were sitting opposite each other. Gambit gently ran a finger through her hair. "Have I ruined everything?"she asked.

He smiled at her. "No, cherie. You've made an old man very happy."

"You're not old,"Jubilee insisted.

"When you hear my story, you might change your mind." He looked round to see Kitty and Warren hovering in the doorway. "Come in. You should hear this too."

The other two came in and sat near them. "What do you know about Sinister?"Kitty asked.

"What do you know?"Gambit responded.

"We know that he's old. A hundred years."

"Yes. Born into a different age. One that was just beginning to understand the way genetics shape human life. Mutants were rarer then. Nathaniel Essex was one of the few. Perhaps that's why it happened, why it affected him so much."

"What?"Warren asked, although he feared the answer.

"His son died. When he was a few months old. A birth defect. Essex thought that his work in genetics could stop it happening again. He experimented on himself and his wife, strengthening their genetic structure. He hoped to have another child, one genetically perfect. When his wife became pregnant again, he thought his prayers would be answered."

"Were they?"Kitty asked.

"Both his wife and child died in childbirth. With her dying breath, she denounced what she called his sinister experiments. It was perhaps his last link with humanity gone. He became those sinister experiments. He made himself stronger, more powerful. And less and less human. He ceased to be Nathaniel Essex, the loving husband and father, and embraced the role of Mister Sinister."

"That's horrible,"Jubilee murmured.

Gambit nodded. "Yes. It is. It's what loneliness, losing everything you care about, can do to a person. What it did to me. I left my life, my wife behind…I had nothing. Until I met Sinister."

There was a tense silence. "What happened?"Warren asked.

"He asked me to put together a team for him. The Marauders. He paid well so I didn't really care what he wanted them for. I sought out the most vicious and violent mutants I could find and brought them to Sinister, made him a team of monsters. There was an island that was a haven for mutants. Two hundred of them. Sinister considered them weak, believed that their continued existence would detract from mutants' rise to supremacy. So he and the Marauders went to the island and killed them. All of them. The whole community. Men, women and children." He hung his head in shame. "All because I was too blinded by the money he offered to me to think about what I was selling in return. Perhaps that's why I help Rita, help places like this. To try and make up for what I did."

Jubilee slid out of her chair and kneeled in front of him. She lifted his face and gently kissed him on the lips. Then she put her arms round him and held him.

Kitty leaned forward as well, until she was almost as close to him as Jubilee was. "Do you know anything about what Sinister's doing now?"she asked.

"There's a warehouse on the edge of town. Rumour is…there's something there. That it's been changed into a fortress. I think that's where Sinister is. But what he's doing there…"

Kitty stood up, Warren doing the same. "We'd better get down there,"she decided.

"Call the other X-Men first,"Warren suggested. "Let them know what's going on."

"Jubilee, you coming?"Kitty asked.

Reluctantly, Jubilee released Gambit. "You three bring your uniforms?"Gambit asked.

"Of course,"Kitty replied.

"Give me a few minutes to get changed." He smiled at her. "Got to look the part."

* * *

Sinister led Rogue and Bobby out of his main laboratory into a side room. There, they found a large glass object, oval in shape. The inside was partially obscured by smoke, with a thick liquid coating the lower part, bubbling as if undergoing some sort of reaction. "What is it?"Bobby asked.

"A virus,"Sinister answered. "One that will change the world."

"What will it do?"Rogue asked.

"Kill people."

"Who?"

"Anyone. Everyone. Unless I order it not to. I've spent many decades searching the world, tracing the development of mutant genes. Waiting for a time when I can build a new society. This virus will be ready soon and when it is, I will release it and the world will finally be cleansed of weakness. But it won't kill me. Or you."

Bobby and Rogue froze at the last comment. "Us?"Rogue repeated.

"Of course. That's why I had Cable take the blood samples from you. The virus is programmed with your genetic code, it won't affect you. I couldn't allow such valuable DNA to go to waste. I have programmed the virus only to spare the most powerful of mutants, the elite who will form a new, stronger society. Everyone else? By my estimate, they will be dead within two months. And then the strong will inherit the earth. You and me. Do you not see how much this will benefit the world?"

"You've convinced us,"Bobby confirmed. "You've convinced us you're exactly the sort of person the X-Men were formed to fight. The sort that decides one type of person is the only type that deserves to live and wants to kill all the rest."

For a moment, Sinister's face contorted into a snarl. Then he controlled himself. "Then I'm afraid the two of you will have to remain imprisoned until it is too late for you to do anything. When you X-Men see the new world, you'll want to be a part of it. And if you don't…I already have your genes. I can do whatever I like with them, create a new race of mutants just as strong as you. And those who fail to grasp the reality of things can just rot."


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Cable stood in the middle of the street, letting people walk past him. A few people shot him angry looks for standing in the way but most just ignored him. He found the experience somewhat uncomfortable. He had barely been out of Sinister's base before and had certainly never seen so many people. And if Sinister was right, all of them were his enemies.

"Are you lost, mister?"

For a moment, Cable looked around, unable to pinpoint the source of the voice. Then it occurred to him to look down. A small boy was looking up at him, a quizzical expression on his face.

"No,"Cable replied. "I am just…looking."

The boy looked up and down the street, as though trying to work out the focus of Cable's attention. "But there's nothing here."

Cable was confused. "There is much here."

"But nothing exciting."

Cable nodded in understanding. "It depends what you have seen before."

"Thomas!" A woman, apparently the child's mother, came pushing through the crowd and grabbed the boy by the hand. "What have I told you about wandering off? And about talking to strange men?"

Cable felt anger rising inside him. Here was the hatred that Sinister spoke of, the foolish ignorance that made these people their enemy. "I would not have hurt him,"he told the woman irritably.

The woman smiled at him. "Of course not, but he doesn't know that. And there are some people who would hurt him."

Cable nodded. Obviously the woman didn't know who he was. "You mean mutants."

The woman looked surprised. "Well, I suppose some mutants might want to hurt him but I'm sure not all of them do." She put an arm round the boy's shoulder and led him away.

It suddenly occurred to Cable that he was going to hurt the boy. That if Sinister succeeded, everyone in this street would die.

* * *

Professor Xavier stood in the Cerebro chamber, Beast and Colossus by his side. He turned to Beast. "Are you ready?"

Beast nodded. "I trust you're skilled enough to make sure it doesn't hurt."

Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated hard for a moment. Then he opened them again. "Thank you."

"What was that?"Colossus asked.

"I need to find Sinister,"Xavier explained. "But having never encountered him, I would have been unable to recognise his psyche. I scanned the memory of him in Beast's mind for that purpose."

"I see,"Colossus replied, even though he didn't quite.

Xavier took his place in front of the machine. "Let's all see, shall we?"

* * *

Storm tore the paper out of the teleprinter in the office and showed it to Wolverine and Siryn. "Are we sure this is for real?"Wolverine asked once he'd scanned its contents.

"I don't know,"Storm replied. "But we need to check it out anyway."

"We should tell the Professor,"Siryn suggested.

At that moment, Xavier, Beast and Colossus came running up. "We've found him,"Xavier announced. "He's in an abandon..."

"…abandoned warehouse on the edge of town,"Wolverine and Storm joined in.

Xavier looked bemused. "Well, I realise it's not the most original of bases…"

"It's more than that,"Storm answered, handing him the sheet.

Xavier looked over the paper. "What does it say?"Colossus asked.

"It says it's from a friend,"Xavier replied. "It says that Sinister is planning to release a virus that will kill everyone, both mutants and ordinary humans, except for the selected few he believes are needed to create a new master race. It says that we only have hours to prevent it being released or nothing can stop it."

"If what you say about the warehouse is true, maybe the rest of it is,"Storm suggested.

"We need to get down there,"Wolverine agreed.

Xavier nodded. "All right. The six of us." He waited until they were heading for the door before adding, "And Leech."

All five heads whipped round to look at him in shock. "He's just a kid,"Storm protested.

"He's fifteen. He's had all the X-Men training and field experience. And with so many X-Men unavailable, we may need an edge."

* * *

Storm gently brought the X-Jet in to land. "We're about two hundred metres from the target,"she pronounced.

"Gives us a decent run up,"Wolverine noted.

"I'm looking forward to pounding the streets,"Colossus agreed.

Siryn had sat down next to Leech and was watching him closely. She remembered the first time they'd both seen action, when the two of them and Jubilee had volunteered to accompany Rogue in reinforcing the battle against Apocalypse. If anything, he seemed more nervous now than he had then. "Are you all right?"she asked quietly.

Leech nodded. "Yeah." He grinned uneasily. "I'll probably be all right once people are trying to kill me."

"Storm, if you would?"Xavier invited.

Storm nodded and stood up to face the group. "All right, we need to move in quickly but stealthily. If Sinister's set up any surprises for us, we need to be ready. Logan and I will take point, followed by the Professor, Siryn and Jimmy, with Colossus and Beast bringing up the rear." She looked around to see if there were any objections but only received a series of nods. "Let's go."

The X-Men jumped down from the jet and headed towards their objective. But as they did so, a stealth plane similar to the X-Jet landed in front of them, about fifty metres away. The ramp descended and Havok, Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane emerged. "Go home, X-Men,"Havok instructed.

Wolverine flexed his claws. "Looks like Sinister's sent a welcome committee."

"I don't think so,"Beast mused.

"Neither do I,"Xavier agreed. He pushed his way to the front of the group. "May I ask who you are?"

"We met before,"Havok reminded him. "I'm…"

"No." Xavier gestured to the group. "I mean…who you all are."

Havok hesitated. "We're X-Factor,"he said at last. "We're a government-sponsored mutant team, set up to deal with threats like this."

Wolverine snorted. "So now they're recruiting mutants to hunt mutants."

"We're not hunting anyone,"Wolfsbane protested.

"We don't want to hurt you,"Strong Guy added.

"But we will, if you get in our way,"Havok insisted. "This is our job, not yours."

"So how did you find this place?"Storm demanded.

Havok looked embarrassed. "We followed you."

Siryn gestured to Multiple Man. "Warren and Kitty said they caught him robbing a bank."

"I was stopping that bank robbery,"Multiple Man corrected. "You X-Men got in the way."

"Which is why we can't let you get involved now,"Havok added.

Professor Xavier had remained silent for a while. "You were recruited by Henry Peter Guyrich?"he asked.

Havok looked surprised. "Yes,"he admitted reluctantly. "How did you know?"

"Your names were all attached to a certain reference,"Beast explained.

"So we know your real names,"Xavier concluded. His eyes flicked over Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane. "James Madrox, Guido Carosella, Rahne Sinclair…" Finally he looked at Havok. "…and Alex Summers."

There was silence for a moment. "Summers?"Storm repeated.

"What of it?"Havok asked.

Xavier slowly approached him. "Your parents were killed in a car accident when you were a young boy. You grew up in an orphanage. And I'm not sure if anyone ever told you that you had an older brother. He was placed in foster care but when his…differences became obvious, I took custody of him. His name was Scott. He was the first of my X-Men. I always meant to find you, to bring the two of you back together. I'm sorry I didn't do that." He was standing in front of Havok now, looking him in the eye. "I don't know what Guyrich's told you, Alex. Probably a lot about duty, about governmental control. About how the task of combatting mutant threats can't be left in the hands of unreliable private groups. There's some truth in that. But these people here are the closest thing your brother had to family. Your brother believed in mutants co-operating with other humans. You have the ability to be a symbol, to show the doubters that mutants are on their side. Not just to be the blunt tool, the unquestioning soldier, that Guyrich would have you be. Let us help you. X-Men and X-Factor together against Sinister."

Havok looked at him for a long time and then nodded.

Storm turned to the other X-Men. "Time to let Sinister know we're here."


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you for the review! There's going to be a couple more chapters after this one so I'm aiming to finish it next weekend. Might not manage it but it shouldn't be too long.**

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sinister cast a critical eye over his Marauders, who were lounging around their base again. "Look at you,"he sneered dismissively. "The vanguard of a new world order. Happily committing the sin of sloth."

"You shouldn't mock a bit of sloth, Mister Sinister,"Harpoon replied. "We're just conserving our energy."

"You have powers that raise you above mortal men. And yet you'd prefer to spend your time on simple gratification. It is fortunate I will have more than you in the new world."

"What, like the X-Men?"Vertigo retorted. "You think you'll ever get them to accept you as ruler?"

"They will learn to do so."

At that moment, the door to the room explode inwards. "You may wish to reconsider that,"Scalphunter suggested.

As Havok's blast knocked the door away, the new combined attack group – Xavier, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Colossus, Havok, Multiple Man, Wolfsbane, Siryn, Leech and Strong Guy – came pouring in. "Spread out,"Storm snapped.

Scalphunter drew his weapon, converting it into a sub-machine gun, and sprayed bullets in their direction. Most of the group dived for cover. Colossus converted his skin to metal and stood in front of Siryn and Leech, deflecting the bullets away from them. Wolverine took one in the shoulder, causing him to collapse into the wall in pain. Wincing, he extracted the bullet with one of his claws and let his mutant healing seal it up. Storm created a gust of wind that knocked the next volley off course. Leech focused his abilities on Scalphunter, who suddenly found his weapon reverting to a more primitive state.

Riptide whirled himself round and hurled spikes at the group. Beast leapt to the front and swatted the spikes aside.

"Wait,"Sinister commanded and all eyes turned to him. "This is not necessary. What do we gain by fighting each other? Soon the world will belong to all of us."

"I learnt a long time ago that the world does not belong to anyone,"Xavier replied.

"But your bloodlines will survive,"Sinister insisted. He gestured to Havok. "You. Alex Summers. I have long taken an interest in your family. I've followed you ever since you were in a children's home. Will you turn on me now?"

Havok stared at him in a mixture of shock and horror. Then, with a roar of rage, he sent an energy blast at him. Sinister screamed as he was struck by the searing ray, backing out of the line of fire. "You…hurt me,"he cried in pain and disbelief. He gestured to the Marauders. "Kill them all." He ran for a flight of stairs.

"He must be trying to release the virus,"Storm realised.

Wolverine gestured to Colossus. "Metal boy, with me." The pair ran up the stairs after Sinister as behind them the fighting broke out in earnest.

* * *

Gambit led Kitty, Warren and Jubilee down a side street towards the building and gestured to a small door. "It's in there."

Kitty waited for someone to respond, then suddenly realised everyone was looking at her. Somehow, she seemed to have been nominated the leader of the party. "Okay,"she announced reluctantly,"let's do this. Remy?"

Gambit charged up a playing card and hurled it at the door, blowing a hole in it. Warren flew through the gap and, after checking around him to make sure there were no enemies in sight, opened it for the others.

"Why aren't there any guards?"Jubilee asked as the group headed down the corridor.

"Maybe they've got something else to worry about,"Warren suggested.

Kitty shot him a worried look. "You mean like the other X-Men?"

"Well, I doubt he's that worried about those two,"Gambit noted, gesturing to the screen through which Rogue and Bobby were visible in their cell.

Kitty waved to the pair and was puzzled when she didn't get a response. "Can't they see us?"

"I don't think so,"Warren confirmed. "This must be some sort of two-way mirror."

"Well, we'll see about that,"Jubilee decided. She generated fireworks and hurled them at the screen. They exploded but did no real damage. "Okay, that's one tough cell."

"Guess they didn't think about someone just walking into it." Kitty phased her body and walked into the cell. Rogue and Bobby gaped at the sight of her. Bobby looked like he was about to say something. "In a minute,"she told him. She touched them both on the shoulder, phasing their bodies with hers, and led them out of the cell into the corridor.

"How did you end up in there?"Warren asked.

"Got on the wrong side of Sinister,"Bobby admitted.

Rogue was already down to business. "Kitty, Sinister's going to release a virus. It's going to kill everyone he doesn't think is strong enough to survive. And that's pretty much everyone."

Kitty was shocked. "Well, we've got to stop him."

"We've seen where the virus is, we'll show you." Everyone moved to follow Rogue…except Gambit.

"Remy?"Kitty asked once she realised he wasn't with them. "What's up?"

"I need to face Sinister,"he explained. "I've been hiding from him for too long. It's time to stop being a coward."

Jubilee took his hand. "I'll come with you."

"You shouldn't do that."

"If he's as strong as you say, you'll need some back-up."

Gambit nodded. "Then I'd be honoured to have you with me." They ran down the corridor, still holding hands.

As Rogue headed in the direction of the laboratory again, Bobby looked confused, staring after Gambit and Jubilee. "Have I missed something?"

Kitty grabbed his arm. "Explain later."

* * *

Professor X and Havok were crouched behind a sofa as Scalphunter pumped bullets into it. "Draw his fire,"the professor whispered. "I'll freeze his mind."

Havok nodded and leapt over the sofa. Professor X stood up a moment later but Scalphunter had anticipated the move. Converting his weapon into a taser, he fired an electric charge that shut down the professor's robot body. "Don't try a tactic like that on an old soldier,"he warned.

It took all Havok's self-control to fire his powers at Scalphunter's weapon instead of Scalphunter himself but he restricted himself to blasting it out of his hands. Scalphunter snarled and lunged at him, pushing him back against a wall, and the two of them grappled.

Multiple Man had squared up to Vertigo. "Nowhere to run, lady,"he warned her, splitting himself into various duplicates that surrounded her.

"The more of you there are, the more of you will fall,"Vertigo retorted. She focused her powers on all of the copies surrounding her, causing them to lose their balance and clatter to the ground.

"Then let's see how _you_ feel about being unsure of your feet,"Storm suggested, using her wind powers to send Vertigo flying. Vertigo focused her own powers on Storm and both women swayed under the effect of the other's powers, holding each other in place, Vertigo crouching, Storm teetering as she struggled to stay upright.

Siryn aimed a sonic scream at Riptide. He covered his ears at the noise but managed to initiate one of his whirlwind twists. Siryn was hit in the chest by several spikes and went down. "Try doing one of those screams with holes in your lungs,"Riptide sneered.

He turned towards Wolfsbane but Leech aimed his own powers at the Marauder, neutralising his abilities. As Riptide looked confused, Wolfsbane morphed, not into a half-wolf as she had done when she fought Siryn but into a full wolf. She leapt on Riptide, her jaws descending onto his throat with a savage bite that killed him instantly.

Leech stared at her in shock as she morphed back into human form, an ashamed look on her face.

Harpoon hurled one of his charged spears at Beast, who leapt out of the way. "You seem to have forgotten how light on my feet I am,"Beast noted.

"Maybe you should try getting off your feet,"Strong Guy added, delivering an uppercut that lifted Harpoon into the air and sent him crashing into a wall.

Harpoon pushed himself up onto his elbow. "Okay, so you can dodge harpoons,"he noted. "See if you can dodge this." He hurled his spear, which caught Strong Guy through the shoulder, sending him careering back into Beast. The tip of the spear went through Beast's shoulder as well, then embedded itself in a wall, pinning them both there.

Harpoon scrambled to his feet and looked about. "Sinister doesn't seem to have got that virus released yet,"he noted. "Maybe I should have a go." He ran for the stairs, everyone too preoccupied to stop him.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Once again, Logan was forced to admit that things weren't going as well as he'd hoped.

In the end, it had all come down to brute force. He and Colossus had attacked Sinister together, metal fists and metal claws beating down on him relentlessly. There was no strategy or finesse, just an attempt to beat the crazed mutant into submission. Unfortunately, submission wasn't something that Sinister seemed to be particularly keen on.

His fists lashed out and Wolverine caught one on the jaw, knocking him back out of the fight for a moment. It gave Sinister the opportunity to focus on Colossus and he took it. He grabbed the metal giant's wrists and both of them struggled to gain the upper hand. Then Sinister actually managed to lift Colossus off his feet, just a few centimetres, just enough to hurl him away. Colossus clattered into the wall, hitting his head hard and crumpling in a heap. Wolverine quickly realised that his comrade was out of the fight.

Sinister turned to Wolverine. "We fought once before and it didn't go well for you,"he pointed out. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Wolverine stared at him defiantly. "Even if I can't stop you, I'm going to make this go real slow." He held his position. There was no point attacking and just letting Sinister beat him. He had to do this carefully.

Sinister stalked towards him. Wolverine held his claws in a defensive stance, making jabs at the Victorian geneticist. Sinister kept his distance, as though daring Wolverine to come closer. The two of them circled each other. Wolverine lashed out with a foot that caught Sinister unawares. Sinister's legs buckled under the kick and he landed on his back. Wolverine stucks his claws to Sinister's throat. "Care to surrender?"

With a snarl of anger, Sinister knocked the claws away and kicked Wolverine away from him. They managed to get back on their feet at the same time but all pretence at strategy was gone now. Sinister delivered a blow that caused Logan's head to spin. Wolverine responded with a backslash that caught Sinister across the face, drawing blood from his pale skin. But all it served to do was make Sinister angry. He delivered blows to Wolverine's solar plexus that knocked the wind out of his body then struck him once, twice on the head, flooring him.

Mutant healing was all well enough but Wolverine's energy was spent. He just lay there, Sinister standing over him triumphant.

Then Sinister felt an explosion in his back. He turned and saw Gambit standing there, Jubilee at his side. Gambit charged up a second playing card and hurled it. This one struck Sinister square in the chest, knocking him back. Gambit produced a third card but didn't charge it, simply holding it ready.

"Remy LeBeau,"Sinister noted slowly. "I'd heard you'd thrown in your lot with the X-Men. Different from the crowd you usually run with."

"They're good company."

"No doubt. But is their cause really worth dying for? You were never one who was that keen to make a stand."

Gambit drew a bo staff from his belt and stood ready. "Perhaps I've changed a bit since we last met."

Sinister gave a smile totally devoid of warmth. "We shall see."

* * *

Rogue led Iceman, Kitty and Archangel into the laboratory. She gestured to the case containing the virus in the corner of the room. "Well, there it is."

"So what do we do now?"Kitty asked. "We can't just smash it, that would release it."

"We could try and get it somewhere safe,"Iceman suggested.

Archangel nodded. "Well, if it's light enough I can probably carry it out of here."

"What are you lot doing here?"demanded a voice behind them. They spun round to find Harpoon standing there.

Bobby held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Look, we don't want any trouble…"

"Yeah? Well, tough! You got it." Harpoon charged up one of his spears and hurled it at Bobby. Iceman gestured at the spear and it was suddenly coated with ice. The extra weight caused it to drop to the ground and shatter.

Harpoon charged up another spear and hurled it at Warren, who seemed to be caught unawares. Not being close enough to grab and phase him, Kitty did the next best thing: she leapt into the spear's path. It struck her in the side and she landed heavily, the spear sticking out of her ribs.

"Kitty!"Bobby shouted in horror. He charged blindly at Harpoon but the Marauder had had time to charge up another spear. He swung it at Bobby, knocking him into Rogue, causing them both to fall in a heap.

Harpoon ran for the virus container and prised open the hatch. But it was only open for a second before Warren came flying into his back. The collision pitched both of them through the open hatch into the container. Warren grabbed the hatch and slammed it shut behind them.

Harpoon looked at him scornfully. "What do you think that's achieved? Sinister's made both of us immune to the virus. I just need to take care of you and then I can open it again." He raised a charged spear…then it fell from his hand. He grabbed his throat, his face turning a shade of purple. "Can't breathe,"he gasped.

Archangel had no opportunity to celebrate the victory. His skin felt like it was on fire. Both he and Harpoon collapsed to the floor of the container and lay there, still.

* * *

Gambit was leaping around Sinister, not allowing the geneticist to aim a decent blow at him. He swung his staff and caught Sinister across the back, being rewarded with a howl of pain.

Sinister kept his distance as Gambit twirled the staff. "You're right, LeBeau. You have learnt a lot. It's a shame you never learnt the most important lesson of all."

Gambit raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Never cross me." Sinister brought his fist down abruptly and shattered Gambit's staff in two. Gambit stared at him in horror until Sinister's next punch hit home and knocked him down. Sinister stalked towards him. "It's a lesson I'm going to have to teach you…"

Not for the first time since the X-Men's attack began, Sinister was halted by a sudden impact against his body. He turned to face Jubilee who was summoning up another plasma firework. "Leave him alone,"she snapped before loosing off a burst that struck Sinister, causing his body to be briefly covered with flowing plasma.

"You dare to challenge me?"Sinister snarled. He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off her feet, as she struggled to free herself, gasping for breath. "You are barely fit to be called a mutant, not strong enough to be part of my new world." He hurled her to the ground. "So I might as well start the culling now."

Jubilee scrambled backwards, firing plasma charge after plasma charge at Sinister. But she knew she was running out of power. All she could do was slow him down.

Then a fist swung out of nowhere and knocked Sinister back into a wall. Sinister spun to face his new attacker and found the last person he was expecting standing there.

Cable.

"What are you doing?"Sinister demanded.

"I have seen what you tried to keep from me,"Cable replied. "I have seen the world. There are people there who do not deserve to die. Just as the X-Men do not deserve to die. But you do."

"I made you!"Sinister snarled. "You will not turn on me like this!"

The two grappled with each other, arms locked together, trying to find some sort of advantage. "I already have,"Cable answered. "It was me who told the X-Men where to find you."

"Why would you do this?"

"Your two prisoners. They told me I am the son of two of the X-Men. Two powerful mutants."

"Yes!"Sinister confirmed. "I made you from them! My 'sinister' experiments created the ultimate superior human!"

"Your mistake." Cable activated his eye laser and struck Sinister in the forehead at pointblank range. Sinister screamed in agony, putting his hands to his face. Cable drew back his metal arm and punched it straight through Sinister's chest. He held it there, seeing the shock on Sinister's face as he felt the life drain from his body. Then Cable pulled the arm out and Sinister fell.

Nathaniel Essex had lived for over a hundred years. But when he died, he was as dead as anyone else.

* * *

Scalphunter gave a sudden burst of strength and managed to break Havok's hold before headbutting him, knocking him out. He looked round and took in the scene, seeing Storm and Vertigo still holding each other at bay. He scooped up his weapon and swung it like a club, impacting with Storm's head and rendering her unconscious.

"Sinister's not coming,"he told Vertigo. "He's finished. Time to save our own necks."

Vertigo hesitated and then nodded. They backed towards the doorway that Havok had blasted open. Scalphunter covered Wolfsbane and Leech, the only members of the X-Men or X-Factor in any condition to carry on the fight, making sure they made no attempt to prevent their escape. "Later, X-People,"he noted.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you to everyone who's been following and/or commenting on this fiction. I didn't realise quite how long this last chapter was going to be but that's what happens when you've got an awful lot of characters needing farewell scenes. Considered cutting it in two but it felt like it all belonged here.**

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Warren Worthington III opened his eyes. He hadn't been sure that he was going to do that again. When he had lost consciousness after being exposed to Sinister's virus, part of him had thought he was never going to wake up. He took in his surroundings. He was lying on top of some sort of examination bed in a large white room. And standing in front of him was Moira McTaggert. Next to her was Sean Cassidy, formerly the X-Man known as Banshee.

"Where am I?"he asked them.

"Muir Island,"Moira answered simply.

"You gave us quite a scare, lad,"Banshee noted. "I see being an X-Man still means taking stupid risks."

A memory flooded back to Warren and he felt a cold fear. "Kitty, she was hit with a spear! Is she all right?"

"I'm fine,"replied a familiar voice. Moira stepped aside to reveal Kitty standing behind her. Kitty pulled up her top to reveal a scar near her waist. "Moira patched me up. Lucky it didn't hit anything vital."

"You should have phased,"Warren scolded her.

"Well, if I had it would have hit you."

Warren had to smile at that. He thought harder, trying to remember what he needed to know. "The virus?"

"Burnt off the face of the earth,"Banshee replied. "Took some doing, we had to wait until Kitty was strong enough to phase you out of there."

"What about Harpoon? He was in there with me."

"Harpoon's dead,"Moira told him.

"So's Sinister,"Kitty added. "Cable came through for us."

"Seems he never programmed the virus not to affect Harpoon,"Moira continued. "Either he didn't get around to it or he didn't fancy having him in his new world."

Warren struggled with the information. "But why didn't the virus kill me? I mean, if I was immune, I wouldn't have been affected at all, right?"

"Well, that's the most interesting effect of all. It seems the virus attacked the genetic modifications Apocalypse made to you…and eradicated them."

Warren froze at the news, not daring to believe it. He looked down at his hands. They were no longer blue. They were a normal flesh tone. Smiling, Kitty showed him a mirror and he looked on the face he'd never expected to see again, touching it to make sure it was real. "Wow,"he whispered.

"So can we call you Angel again now?"Kitty asked.

Warren nodded.

"I'm glad. Archangel was always a bit of a mouthful."

Angel smiled at her. "Do you think you can still love me looking like this?"

"I don't think that will be a problem." Kitty kissed him softly and clambered onto the bed with him.

Banshee nudged Moira and they left the room, giving the young couple their privacy.

* * *

Henry Peter Guyrich walked as fast as he could without losing his composure. A summon to the Oval Office was not something he wanted to be tardy about answering. He had received X-Factor's report about their encounter with Sinister and, while it hadn't quite gone the way he'd hoped, he was confident that his strategy would be judged a success. That confidence diminished slightly when he entered the office to find two other people with the President: Charles Xavier and Henry McCoy. "Mr. President?"he enquired.

"I have just been listening to an account of X-Factor's first operations,"the President explained. "An account confirmed as accurate up by your own operatives. It would seem that under your direction, they twice engaged in combat with the X-Men despite the fact that the two groups were pursuing the same goal. It seems they made no progress against the true threat, Nathaniel Essex, until they allied themselves with the X-Men in defiance of your instructions."

"Mr. President, may I remind you that X-Factor was founded because the X-Men had been judged unreliable?"Guyrich asked. "They are vigilantes, a rogue element who operate entirely without respect for law and order. They had no right interfering in this case."

"Their intervention saved the lives of nearly everyone on this planet,"the President snapped back at him. "X-Factor was set up to provide us with an effective, government-run means of combatting mutant menaces _alongside_ trusted freelancers like the X-Men. It was not set up to give you an opportunity to pursue personal vendettas! For that reason, I am removing you as the co-ordinator of X-Factor and replacing you with Henry McCoy."

Guyrich looked stricken. "Mr. President…"

"I suggest you leave this office now, Mr. Guyrich, while you still have any sort of position at all."

Guyrich gave a curious choking sound before quickly making his exit.

Xavier gave a grateful nod. "Thank you, Mr. President." He turned to Beast. "Well, we'll miss you in the X-Men, Henry. But I think you've finally found your calling."

Beast smiled in return. "Thank you, Professor."

* * *

Storm stood looking at the two graves. Jean Gray and Scott Summers. One restored, the other completed. At least they could thank Sinister for finally giving them Scott's body to bury. And after his nocturnal visit to the memorial, the X-Men had made a point of installing some extra intruder alert systems.

Havok stood by her side, looking at the grave of the brother he'd never known. "Was he a good man?" he asked.

Storm nodded. "Next to the professor, I don't think I've ever met anyone more committed to making a world where humans and mutants are equal. It's a goal the rest of us X-Men are determined to continue striving for."

"I'm sorry if I did anything to damage that."

"You're a part of that struggle now. X-Factor just as much as the X-Men. And with Hank guiding you rather than Guyrich, I think you'll do a good job."

"I'm certainly going to do my best." Havok glanced up at the mansion roof and saw Cable standing there. "Is he really my nephew?"

Storm smiled. "That's the other thing you have to get used to with the X-Men. Weirdness happens."

* * *

"See anything you like?"Wolverine asked.

Cable glanced back at him. "I see a lot."

"Well, it's all yours for the taking. I come up here a lot to think too." Wolverine went to stand by him. "I kind of wanted to kill you when I first found out who you were. Sorry about that."

"I was willing to help Sinister kill everyone. I can't really judge." Cable shot him a curious look. "Why _did_ you want to kill me?"

"Your parents or whatever you want to call them…" Wolverine sighed. Time to be honest. "Your _mum_ was a very special lady. I thought you existing was an insult to her memory. But maybe it's good that a part of her's still fighting for what she believed in."

"What about my father?"

"He was a twit,"Wolverine replied bluntly. Then his features softened. "But he was also a father you could have been proud of. So…you want to take their place?"

Cable looked at him in surprise. "You want me to join the X-Men?"

"Just because Xavier's back here doesn't mean I've lost my right to hand out invites."

Cable thought for a long moment. "No,"he said at last. "The world out there is where I need to go. To explore it, to try and find my place in it." He turned and walked towards the steps leading off the roof. Then he turned and looked back at Wolverine. "But I might come back some day."

* * *

Jubilee tried to quicken her pace as she walked past the living room but Gambit saw her all the same. He stepped out into the corridor. "Jubilee?"

Jubilee winced, then turned and walked back to him. "Remy. Hi. Haven't seen much of you these past few days."

"I suspect one of us has been avoiding the other. Not quite sure who. You tackling Sinister the way you did was both very brave and very stupid. And since I'd probably be dead if you hadn't, I'm very grateful."

Jubilee nodded. "No problem."

"You said certain things. I suppose you might have only said them because you thought they were what I wanted to hear…"

Jubilee considered lying. But instead she took a deep breath and told the truth. "No, I meant them. I love you. I'm sorry if that means I've messed things up."

Gambit cut her off with a kiss. She looked shocked but smiled. "There are many things in my past that aren't very lovable,"he noted. "But if you can love me despite them, I think it would be very easy for me to love you."

He kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around him.

Xavier and Wolverine watched from the doorway of the office. "Isn't that kinda, like, manhandling a student?"Wolverine asked.

Xavier smiled. "I think they've both made their choice whilst fully informed."

* * *

Siryn sat up in her bed in the medical wing. It hurt to do so and she winced at the pain in her chest. Even though the wounds she suffered from Riptide's spikes were mostly healed, she was still covered in sores.

Colossus sat next to her bed, his head bandaged as a momento of his fight with Sinister. "You shouldn't do that,"he said.

"You can talk,"she replied.

"For a while there, I wasn't sure if you'd make it. It was a frightening experience."

"For me too."

"Both of us knew there would be risks when we joined the X-Men. But that was the first time I've had to go into battle alongside someone I slept with." He hesitated. "Someone I love."

Siryn saw his hand resting alongside hers on the bed, invitingly. She grasped it. "Me too."

"Being that afraid for you, I'm not sure I could go through it again."

Siryn wished she could think of something to say to console him. But staring into his big innocent eyes, she thought of nothing. "So what do we do about it?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

* * *

Xavier stood in front of his desk in the office, Wolverine, Rogue and Iceman arrayed in front of him. "All in all, I think this has been a rather successful venture,"he noted. "Another mutant threat to humanity defeated by the mutant friends of humanity, some new allies gained and bonus points with the administration. All without any serious casualties."

"You've heard from Warren?"Bobby asked.

Xavier glanced round as Storm entered. "Well, I think this is the news now."

"Warren's regained consciousness and he's going to be fine,"Storm confirmed. "And I've run full medical checks on everyone and they've got all got a clean bill of health. But the checks on Rogue turned up something unexpected." She looked at the girl. "I think I know why Sinister chose you to be among those spared by his virus."

"Because of my dormant mutant genes,"Rogue replied.

Storm shook her head. "No. I don't know how he knew, maybe he made some sort of genetic scan of us all when he was first here. But I think he spared you because of what you were carrying. You're pregnant."

* * *

Wolverine slammed his claws into the bed with a roar of fury and swept the surface of the dressing table clean. Storm stood by the bedroom door, her hands held up placatingly. "Logan, calm down."

"Either I take it out on the furniture,"Wolverine snapped,"or I cut out Drake's liver."

"I know Rogue's important to you but if she needs your help, she'll say so. Killing her boyfriend or smashing up a chest of drawers isn't going to help."

"Does he have any idea what she's going through?"

"I suspect they're both going through a lot." Storm placed her hands on Logan's arms consolingly. "And we'll see them through it. But we need to calm down and let them come to terms with this themselves first."

"We could calm down,"Wolverine agreed. "Or we could figure out another way of dealing."

"Wha..?" Storm's question was silenced as Wolverine's lips crashed down on hers, the two of them holding each other in a passionate embrace. He lifted her up so she was sitting on the now empty dressing table surface as they continued to carress each other passionately. The kiss broke and she raised an eyebrow. "Making babies ourselves?"

"Sounds like a plan,"he agreed, kissing her again and pulling her so they both fell onto the bed.

* * *

Rogue sat alone on a bench outside the mansion. Since she'd first come there, she had faced Magneto, Stryker, Apocalypse, the Sentinels and now Sinister. And she'd never felt as scared as she did at that moment.

"Marie?"

Rogue looked round at the familiar voice and saw Bobby standing there. She wasn't sure if he'd ever called her by that name before. But it kind of felt apt now. She was going to be a mother. Mothers weren't called things like Rogue. They were called things like Marie.

Bobby sat down next to her. "You know I'll be with you through all this, right?"

Rogue sighed. "I really wish we were just an ordinary young couple scared to death about being parents. But we're not. You heard what Warren said, I've still got mutant genes, same as you. Which means we'll pass them on. Our baby will be a mutant."

"There are worse things to be."

"But what if he or she has sucky powers like mine? Even if they don't, they're going to have to deal with all the abuse from people who don't understand. And what are they going to be when they grow up? A second generation X-Man, raised to carry on the fight?"

"Maybe by the time Baby's our age, things will be different."

Rogue didn't feel particularly confident. "Maybe,"she conceeded.

Bobby put an arm round her shoulder. "Either way, I don't think there's a better place for a mutant baby to be born than here."

Rogue looked around the grounds. Their home. Their friends. Their family. In more ways than one. And for the first time since she'd heard the news, she smiled. "No. I don't suppose there is."


End file.
